Government & Public Affairs

The American Correctional Association works to shape public policy on correctional issues in manners consistent with the Association's founding principles, constitution and bylaws, vision statement, and public policies and resolutions.

The Government & Public Affairs Department, in partnership with the Legislative Affairs Committee, develops the Association's position on public policy issues and represents the Association before the United States Congress, federal executive agencies, state and local governments, advocacy and interest groups, the media, and the general public. The department continually works to forge bipartisan contacts with lawmakers and administration officials and takes pride in its close relationship with the law enforcement community and numerous advocacy organizations.

Government & Public Affairs is responsible for monitoring, tracking and analyzing legislative activity for the Association and disseminating information to policy-makers, advocacy groups and the media as well as ACA members. The ACA Federal Alert is designed to inform ACA members about federal legislation and critical developments that will impact the corrections profession.

Meet the Director of Government & Public Affairs

Eric Schultz has been the Director of Government & Public Affairs for ACA since 2006. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh with a double major in Political Science and Economics, he went to work for Congressman Mike Doyle (D, PA) where he dealt with State Department, Justice Department and labor issues. He also served as the Congressman’s campaign manager for two successful reelection campaigns. He has since been a public policy advocate in the fields of criminal justice and corrections for more than thirteen years in addition to serving as the Project Director for the National Neighborhood Watch-USA on Watch program.

Policies and Resolutions

The policies and resolutions are updated after each Winter Conference and Congress of Correction.

POLICY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Policies can be proposed by any member, committee, or organization in the Association. Any proposal must be consistent with the Declaration of Principles of the Association.

The proposed policy will be reviewed and formatted by the Resolutions and Policy Development Committee. The Committee may refer the proposed policy to another committee for review and comment prior to further action. When this is done, the receiving committee should act on the proposed policy at the time of referral.

The Resolution and Policy Development Committee will bring a recommendation on a proposed policy to the Executive Committee, Board of Governors, and Delegate Assembly for review and action.

Upon action by the Executive Committee, Board of Governors, and the Delegate Assembly, the staff of ACA shall redraft the proposed policy incorporating any recommended changes.

The proposed policy will be submitted to the general membership and all chapters and affiliates for review. This will be accomplished through publication in Corrections Today or On the Line. Inherent in this policy is the presumption that a policy introduced at one conference/Congress may not be ratified or rejected until the following conference/Congress.

After review and comment by the general membership, the policy may be refined by the Resolutions and Policy Development Committee and forwarded to the Executive Committee for review and action as they deem appropriate. The Executive Committee will then submit the final version of the proposed policy, with its recommendation, to the Board of Governors and Delegate Assembly for ratification or rejection.

To be considered, Resolutions must be submitted to staff for presentation to the Committee not less than 72 hours prior to the Committee meeting.

A ratified policy will be reviewed at least every five years by the Resolutions and Policy Development Committee and the governing bodies of the Association.

A ratified resolution will be reviewed at least every three years by the Resolutions and Policy Development Committee and the governing bodies of the Association.

(Revised and approved by the American Correctional Association Delegate Assembly at the Winter Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, Jan. 20, 1999.)